Love, Pain, and Sacrifice
by maniacmichelle
Summary: The tragic love story of Len and Hino.
1. October

**Prelude:**

The icy October breeze touched gently against his warm, smooth skin as he walked down the street that was full of colorful descending leaves. His expression was cold and calm, but lugubrious. His face showed of much sorrow and dejection. Nothing would ever be completely the same for him. She was gone. Forever.

People that seen him knew who he was. He was Len Tsukimori, the famous violinist. But that meant almost nothing to him at this point. He still hadn't gotten over what had happened. The tragedy brought him to tears every time he thought about it.

It was quite a long story. How they both met. All the troubles in-between. Etc. But once they were together, they were quite inseparable.

They both attended Seiso Academy, in which they met through a special music contest. He and Kahoko both played violin. Over time Len developed feelings for her as they got to know each other. Though, for quite a while he wasn't quite sure if she felt the same way, since every guy in the contest had a crush on her. But soon enough, Len had to leave for Vienna to go pursue his musical career, he decided to confess of his feelings for her since that could be the last time he'd ever see her. And that's where he found out she felt the same way.

Len finally reached his destination. The local coffee shop. He walked up to the counter to order is usual and very plain, black coffee.

"Are you sure you don't want anything else, sir?" Asked the cashier. Len shook his head and she went off and fetched him his very plain coffee.

Once he got it he sat down in the corner alone. An older man walked into the shop and ordered a french vanilla latte. As he looked for a place to sit he noticed the lonely sad man sitting by himself in the corner.

"Is anyone sitting here?" He asked pointing at the seat directly across from Len. Len shook his head and the man sat right across from him.

It was very quiet and awkward for a few minutes until finally the strange man spoke.

"My name's Noah. And your Len Tsukimori, I believe?"

Len nodded his head.

"You're quite famous. I'm very surprised to find you in a place like this."

Len didn't say anything.

"What seems to be troubling you? You look so….miserable."

Len still wouldn't didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry to intrude into your own business. I'm just a curious person."

No response. But Noah had an idea of what was wrong.

"I was in love once too, but I ended up losing her in the end."

Len looked up in curiosity.

"She ended up wanting to pursue her dream in science and she went of and studied far away. We ended up winding apart, and she met someone else that lived a lot closer than I was. "

Len finally spoke, "If she truly loved you she wouldn't have jumped to someone else so quickly. She would've waited. It's obvious she didn't love you like you did."

"Wow you have quite the opinion about love, don't you?"

It was silent.

"Well I don't blame her for moving on. It had been 12 years since she had been gone and we didn't hardly see each other. I got caught up with my own dreams and she got caught up in hers. I was young and stupid. I should've ran after her and stayed with her regardless." Noah sighed deeply.

"If it was true love and meant to be, she would be with you now. Nothing would've kept you two apart except death itself." Len responded.

"You seem the be an expert at this, eh?" He chuckled

Len's gloomy face just stared down at his coffee.

"What's your story?" Noah asked.

"You wouldn't understand"

"Why not?"

"Noah, I'm sorry but it's none of your business. It's very hard for me to talk about and I'd rather not."

"Boy, if you never talk it out it will eat you alive! Do you think she'd be happy if she seen you in your condition?"

Len was quiet.

"Exactly. Now what's your story?"

* * *

I was making my way through the airport on my way to Vienna. I had my violin in one hand and my carry-on in the other. My mother and father hugged me goodbye.

"Len, I am so proud of you. Music will take you far and will open up your heart in so many ways…" My mother embraced me tightly.

"Thank you mom and dad. I couldn't have gotten this far without your support."

My mother smiled and kissed me on the forehead. "Someone special is also here to see you off"

I looked at her questionably. She pointed out a distance where I could see a familiar girl running towards us. My heart raced. I hadn't spoken to her since I had confessed to her.

When she finally caught up to us, she jumped on me and gave me a big hug.

"Len! I hope you have an amazing trip. I know you'll do fantastic. I'm going to miss you so much!"

I blushed.

She looked me right in the eye as I looked directly into hers and blushed madly.

"Don't forget about me while you're there, okay?"

"I could never forget about you, Kaho." I let her down and she gave me one last hug.

"Make sure you write to me whenever you can."

"I will. I promise." I replied. She smiled and she gave me a peck on the cheek.

My cheeks turned dark red.

"She's making it even harder to leave." I thought to myself.

I waved to them all goodbye as I headed to my gate in the airport.

"I'll miss you, Kahoko" I said to myself.


	2. Constanze and Confessions

**Sorry the last chapter was kinda short. I didn't have a lot of time. This chapter I hope can make up for that! Please review! **

**I also apologize for updating after so long…I was planning on doing an update Jan 1st but that sure didn't happen. This month has been quite stressful with exams and so many music auditions do this month! But I will try and keep up with this :) enjoy the story! I hope there aren't to many typos…it is 3:24AM and I am also tired so please forgive me if there are any!**

CHAPTA 2

After many hours of waiting and boarding, I was finally sitting in my assigned seat on the plane. I was not really looking forward to the next several hours but I really didn't have much of a choice. I also was seated next to a girl, who looked very pretty but looked much like Kahoko which is probably why I took some interest in her. Her hair was the same color and styled very similar and she had sparking eyes too. She noticed me looking at her and smiled.

"Well you're a cutie!" She admitted. "I wasn't expecting to have someone like you sitting with me."

I blushed awkwardly not knowing exactly what to do and not expecting such a straight-forward comment.

My silence did not stop her though.

"Are you headed to Vienna too?" She asked.

"Yes." I answered simply. She sat down her magazine that she was reading.

"Me too! My name is Constanze Werden." She put out her hand in which I shook.

"That's a very German name." I noted, "Do you speak German as well?"

"Yes I do, sir. Same for you?"

"Yes."

"Okay! We'll what's your name, hun?"

"Len Tsukimori."

"Well that's an interesting name. What brings you to Vienna?"

"Music. I'm going to be studying there."

"Really? That is amazing. You must be very talented. What instrument do you play?"

"Violin."

"Violin, huh? Well I sing and paint!" She said confidently.

"Is that why you're going to Vienna?" I asked.

"Only for painting really. But I really want to go see some opera. You should come with me to a show!"

I wasn't quite sure what to say. Going to a show with some random stranger I met on an airplane? I don't even know her well.

"C'mon you know you want to! And I hear Don Giovanni is playing soon! "

"I'm sorry but I don't even know you that well. I can't. I'll be too busy."

"Yes you know me! We've already introduced ourselves. What more can we really do other than get to know eachother, which we can do on the plane!"

"I'm sorry but no."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

"With sugar on top??"

"No." She began to annoy me.

"Well aren't you a brick wall!" She laughed. "Well in all seriousness, my friend whom I wanted to see this opera with, is sick in the hospital and can't come with me anymore so I have this one ticket that's non-refundable. Honestly, could you please just come with me for one night?"

I felt bad if I said no now. I hesitated for a while."As long as it's Don Giovanni I'll go." I finally said after a moment.

"Alright! You know what, Tsukimori Len? I may not know you quite well but I'm liking what I see so far." She laughed.

.

.

.

Constanze and I talked for probably an hour or two until we both decided we wanted to nap. I kept thinking about Kahoko, but I also kept thinking about Constanze too for some reason.

She is very outgoing and optimistic. With her I felt like I could talk for hours and not run out of conversation only every so often I would get annoyed of her obnoxiousness though. I almost felt like I could tell her my life story and be totally comfortable with it. Why was I thinking such things? I felt so disloyal to Kahoko for some reason like my mind was cheating on her with this other girl.

I started thinking about Kahoko's sweet, gentle personality and it calmed me. It reminded me that my feelings were far more stronger for her than anyone else. My feelings were just spur of the moment for Constanze. But I can't lie, she's an amazing girl.

I turned and looked at a sleeping Constanze.

'She looks cute when she sleeps.' I thought to myself.

She opened her eyes.

"Well goodmorning!" Her voice was full and energetic. She laughed, "Don't worry I was staring at you while you were sleeping too, buddy. And you are quite adorable!!"

She leaned her head against mine. My body quickly stiffened.

"Why so tense?" She asked.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't do that."

"Well I'd appreciate it if you did." She countered. Her hand reached and pulled my arm so that it would fit around her.

I quickly moved my arm back and pushed her off me.

She stared at my with a confused expression until a moment later her eyes filled with excitement.

"I know what it is!!!! You have a girlfriend don't you?? I knew it I knew it I knew it! What's her name? How did you both meet? Does she play an instrument too?"

She kept rambling on and on until I interrupted her.

"Why do you care?" I said bluntly.

"I love relationships and knowing how two people meet and fall in love!" She squealed. "It's so interesting and beautiful."

I sighed. I spent the next half hour or so explaining the concours and how I met Kahoko and so on.

"That's cute. But how exactly did you confess your feelings to her?"

"I don't feel comfortable telling you that. That's personal between me and her."

"You've already told me this much! Telling me about this isn't going to make much of a difference. Please!!"

I sighed and told her.

* * *

"Hino your bowing arm shouldn't be that high up! Relax."

It was another night of giving Hino Kahoko music lessons.

"That's right….steady….you need more pressure right there." I circled that area in her music. "You always lighten up right there. It should be dark and harsh."

She replayed the part just the way I wanted it to sound. "Is that better?"

"Yes. Tons better."

She smiled that smile that made my heart ache. "Thank you for teaching me, Tsukimori."

"No need to thank me. Just practice and sound good…and make sure that's an Up bow that you're doing at the second note at measure 13."

She chuckled. "Whatever you say, Tsukimori."

We worked for about another 15 minutes until I noticed how Kahoko seemed drowsier in her playing.

"Let's call it a day." I finally said. She nodded in agreement and put her violin in her case.

I stood there nervously thinking about how I was going to explain _this_ to her.

"Well Tsukimori, thank you for working with me again, I can't thank you enough. I will see you tomorrow."

She headed for the door but I quickly ran in front of it and blocked it.

"No, I will walk you home tonight. It's very dark out, Hino."

"No, no, you don't have to. I can assure you that I will get home safely and I will be extra careful, alright? You already do too much for me."

"Please, just let me. You'll be doing myself a favor if you let me."

She sighed, "I already feel bad enough with you wasting all of your precious time on me, but I guess you can."

"None of my time has been wasted with you."

Her delicate face flushed a light pink, which made her look adorable. I grabbed my violin case just as she did and we both headed out the door.

We were both silent as we started for her house. I tried figuring out something but she eventually beat me to it.

"The moon looks really pretty tonight," She commented, "I love it when there's a full moon out."

"Why?"

"I think it's beautiful and it makes me feel happy because something good always happens when there's a full moon."

"I don't really believe in those kind of things…they never happen."

"But it's your faith that that helps make it happen, Tsukimori." We both stopped walking and stood before eachother.

There was a slight breeze in the air and it swept through her long hair, making her face glow in the moonlight. She looked absolutely lovely.

"Kahoko," I walked a step closer to her, "there's a reason I walked you home tonight." She began to blush slightly. I hesitated for what I was about to say. I wasn't quite sure how to word it out or if the words were even going to leave my mouth.

"Kaho, I-I'm S-sorry for how I've treated you in the past during concours. I don't want to leave to Vienna on bad terms with you." I quickly got mad at myself for not saying what I had really wanted to say and chickening out.

"Tsukimori, is that what you're worried about?" She put her hand on my shoulder causing me to tense up. "Because I was not mad at you at all for that. I mean sometimes you got in over your head but I always forgive you. I can never stay mad at you for long…If anything you do to much for me with helping me and all and it honestly makes me feel bad because I can never repay you equally" She moved her eyes down towards the ground.

But I lifted her chin up.

"No, you don't need to forgive me for all that I've done, Kahoko, you've taught me so much over the past year. I would never appreciate music the way I do now if it wasn't for you. You showed me how much music can do to your soul and how it connects to your heart…I can't ever thank you enough for that. My whole life I never understood the good of music and its purpose…not until I met you."

She stared at me dead in the eyes.

"When I play my violin," I continued, "it's only satisfied when it sings with your violin. It's in love with your violin…but I'm in love with your music."

I could see her cheeks reddening.

"Everytime I listen to you play, I get this feeling inside me of hope. And it's hope that maybe, just maybe, my music will be able to unite with your music together, forever…"

She looked at me with these soft unreadable eyes as she began to speak.

"_Len,_ it's **your** music that inspired me to play my violin to begin with. If I had never heard you play I don't think I would even be standing here with you right now. Your playing is so beautiful, I can't even explain it. You have no idea the affect your music does to me. It's beyond magnificent."

"Well then," I added, "maybe our music should be **together** then."

She stood there dumbfounded and I put my hands on her shoulders. "Kahoko, you're the one I want to be with. You always seem to covet my mind entirely, all the time. But if you don't feel the same way, I understand, but you will always have a special place with me." I could feel my hands tremble a little as I finished. Her eyes began to swell into tears. Was she mad?

Before I could even think at all, she kissed me solid on the lips. I kissed her back and she broke apart from me.

"I feel the same way, Len." She sniffled, "I would've never guessed in a million years that you would feel that way."

"Same here." I replied. I sighed in relief. She was mine now. I think.

"Wow it's getting very late!" Her eyes widened at her watch. "I should be better getting back very soon!

"I'll finish walking you home." This time she nodded in agreement without rejecting it.

"How long have you felt this way about me? You don't have to answer if you're uncomfortable with it." She asked.

"No it's fine." I answered, "Ive liked you since sometime during concours."

"Really?"

"Why does it seem so shocking?" I questioned.

"Because I thought you hated me or something during the concours!" She laughed, "I can't believe it's taken this long for us to come clean about all of this."

I nodded in agreement and laughed with her. "It's strange how life does these kind of things."

"Me too. But I think I like it." She smiled at me. I returned the smile.

We finally got to her house, which made me sad since now this meant the night was basically over.

"Thank you so much for walking me home. I appreciate it, Len." She wrapped her arms around my neck.

"No problem at all. Thank you for letting me walk you home." She laughed at that and then we both became silent.

Our faces began to inch towards eachother slowly until they both finally touched and locked onto eachother. This time I did not want to let her go. I wanted her to forever be in my arms in my company. But of course that wasn't going to happen.

We both finally broke apart gasping for air.

"Goodnight, Kahoko."

"Goodnight, Len."

Slowly she turned around and walked into her house, locking eyes with me until her door was shut. I turned around and began walking home happily until I finally remembered one important thing.

In a few more days I would be gone.

* * *

"Aww! That's SO romantic!" Constanze squealed.

I began to become depressed thinking about her...

"Show me a picture of her!" She asked.

A picture? I realized at that moment I had no pictures of her. It had never really occurred to me that it might be nice to carry a picture of her with me. I felt a little sad that I never did now.

I looked down in embarrassment.

"You don't have a picture of her?" Her voice sounded astounded. "How can you not have a picture of her? Well anyways as soon as you get to you're apartment I demand that you write a letter to her for a picture! She'll appreciate it."

I nodded my head in agreement. She still looked at me like I was crazy but I shrugged it off. Of course I felt a little stupid for not having a picture but then again we really haven't been dating for all that long when you think about it. I sighed and then looked out the window.

"I think she's the _one._" She blurted out.

"What do you mean."

"Everyone has a soulmate out there we have to find, Tsukimori, and I bet that she's your other half."

I wasn't quite sure what to say to that.

"I think it's amazing that music brought you two together. I wish I had 1/4 of that kind of a _romance_."

Romance? I never really thought about it as a romance and I never dreamed in my life I'd be in one.

"You are quite the romantic after hearing that story!"

"How am I romantic?" I questioned.

"It's so sweet how you walked her home and you connected your music with your feelings for her…I could never find a man like that. She's quite the lucky girl."

I never really thought of my actions as romantic, if what I did even was. But she was not lucky, I was.

"The plane will be landing in 10 minutes!" The pilot announced.

"Well I guess our time is almost up!" She began putting her magazines back into her bag. "It was nice meeting you, Tsukimori. Don Giovanni will be great! Oh here's your ticket by the way." She dug into her purse and handed over a small ticket.

"Thank you." I said.

"No problem." She winked and undid her seat belt as we landed.

After getting my carry-on I got off the plane and went to find my luggage. Constanze came up to me after she had found her stuff. "Well I guess I'll be seeing you around later this week, I guess."

"I guess so." I replied. She stood there as if she were going to say something more but moved closer to me.

"I'm sorry but…" She kissed me on the lips quickly and then backed off. "I wanted something to remember you by just in case I don't see you again for some reason."

She quickly ran off without letting me have a chance to yell at her.

"Oh Kahoko…" I thought to myself. "If only you were with me…"


End file.
